<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>You Know Where to Find Me Again by KAi_Sage</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30011001">You Know Where to Find Me Again</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/KAi_Sage/pseuds/KAi_Sage'>KAi_Sage</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Amnesia, Angst, Fate &amp; Destiny, Introspection, It’s sad boi hours, Master Sword (Legend of Zelda), Self-Doubt, based on actual gameplay experience</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 21:14:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,205</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30011001</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/KAi_Sage/pseuds/KAi_Sage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>As Link tries to follow the destiny he doesn’t remember having, he comes across an important piece of the puzzle. But will he be able to live up to his past self?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>You Know Where to Find Me Again</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He stumbled upon it without really searching for it. <br/>Link was exploring the foothills around Death Mountain after freeing Van Rudania and its pilot, Daruk, looking for more shrines with his Sheikah Slate when he discovered a path leading into a dense forest. The path, like many places around Hyrule that he discovered so far, carried a vague sense of familiarity, that although his mind no longer held memories of this place, some other part of him did. This part of him urged him forward, beckoning him into the dark woods. <br/>The farther along into the forest he went, the more sure he was of what he was going to find at the end. This must be the resting place of the sword that seals the darkness, the sword of legend that Impa told him about when she sent him on his quest. His sword. For he must have wielded it before in their previous attempt to defeat the Calamity. He was eager to see it again. To regain a part of himself from before he lost everything but his life.<br/>The path through the forest was treacherous and maze-like, but eventually he reached the center where the looming trees softened into a sacred grove filled with Korok spirits. It was there that his suspicions were confirmed. There, on a ceremonial platform bearing the triforce crest, was the sword resting in its pedestal. <br/>Link climbed the platform and stood in reverence of the blade before him. He reached out to claim it but as his fingers brushed the pommel a series of images flashed sharply across his eyes. Faces and scenes flooded through him, too quick for him to really comprehend what was happening. They must have been more fragments of his memories. It was the most he had gotten at once, but at the same time the least substantial. While the few memories he unburied at other locations gave him full scenes or conversations, these flashes gave him only small pieces of events. It left him aching for more as he took a few startled steps back from the sword. Though this time there was also a voice speaking to him over the memories. A voice that was familiar. The same one that he’d been hearing since waking up at the shrine of resurrection. It told him nothing new, but hearing it again speaking to him now left him feeling hollow, in a way. Lonely. He missed the person the voice belonged to. He wished he could remember why.<br/>A deep voice coming from the giant tree in front of him jolted him out of his thoughts, asking who he was before claiming to remember him. It was starting to get frustrating for Link, coming across all of these people that knew more about him than he knew himself. It wasn’t fair that they still held their memories of him while he was left with nothing. He tamped down his bitterness and listened to the Great Deku Tree’s story of the sword. There was also a warning that while Link did wield the sword before, he might not be worthy of the blade the way he was now.<br/>That gave Link pause. How would he know if he was worthy? Without knowing what he was like before and being unable to remember how the blade came into his possession the first time, he had no point of reference. Still, Link knew he wouldn’t be satisfied if he left without attempting to pull the sword. So he planted his feet, adjusted his grip on the handle, and started to pull.<br/>He was met with immediate resistance and a draining sensation that seemed to suck the life out his limbs, making it hard to keep a hold of the sword. He clung to the sword with determination and was rewarded when the sword shifted several inches upward. The euphoria over the fact the sword was responding to him at all left him feeling dizzy, or maybe it was the effects of the sword’s life-draining resistance he was still facing. It didn’t matter. He pushed past his building exhaustion and continued to pull. The sword lifted slightly again but darkness started to encroach on the edges of his vision, his heartbeat growing weaker in his chest. Still he refused to give up. If he could just hold on a little longer, pull a little harder-<br/>“Enough!” The Great Deku Tree’s voice startled him into letting go of the sword, which slowly slid back fully into its pedestal, undoing his meager progress. He moved to glare at the tree for interrupting him, but stilled when the tree explained that if Link hadn’t stopped when he did, he would not have survived. He was not ready to wield the sword of legend.<br/>Link stood in numbed silence while the Deku Tree explained that there were four trials around the forest that would help Link regain some of his past strength. In truth, Link hardly listened as he stared at the sword that seals the darkness that had stubbornly remained in its stone, lost in a storm of emotions and questions. Why couldn’t he claim the sword now when it had been his before? He couldn’t even remember how he got the sword the first time, but a dark part of his mind told him that it must have been easy then. After all, none of the people who knew him before warned him about the challenge. They only told him to find it. Which led Link to believe that they had assumed as he had that finding the sword would be the hardest part. What plagued him the most, however, was wondering how much he had changed after losing his memories. How much of himself had he lost in those one hundred years? And if he failed to defeat the Calamity then, when he was at his strongest, what hope could be had for the future?<br/>Link completed the four trials of the forest in a daze, these thoughts cycling through his mind. He soon found himself standing on the pedestal once more, his hand extended toward the blade, but he hesitated. The amount of experience and strength that he gained from the trials felt like nothing when faced with the task of pulling the legendary sword from the stone. A rage of emotions tore at him. There was sharp bitterness and building anger, both at himself for being unable to fulfill his duty and at the world for setting him on this path. There was also grief, quietly mourning who he used to be and the fact that he likely would never be the same. But mostly there was fear. Fear of the sword that mocked him from its stone, close enough to touch but still out of reach. Fear of trying again only to find that he still wasn’t worthy to wield the sword. Fear of his destiny and what would happen if the sword never accepted him again.<br/>So, with the weight of the world on his shoulders and the weight of doubt on his heart, Link turned his back on the sword and left the sacred grove with the distinct feeling that he had failed.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This fic was inspired by my own play through of Breath of the Wild where I found the master sword early and was unable to pull it. After failing once, I was too scared to try again and left and didn’t return for a long time. It was only after acquiring many more heart containers than necessary that I came back and successfully claimed the sword. My own reaction to failing to get the sword made me think about how I made Link feel by putting him in that situation. <br/>Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>